One of the most common apparatus used to display products and other items for view are various pegboard display systems. In these display systems, an upright pegboard support provides a vertically oriented mounting surface upon which product display brackets are mounted. Typically, the pegboard support has a front surface forming a background for the product display, and the pegboard support has a matrix of uniformly spaced holes that can receive the product display brackets. These display brackets have a mounting base and one or more hook shaped prongs which extend rearwardly of the mounting base and which are spaced to engaged selected mounting holes in the matrix formed in the pegboard support. Since the prongs extend from the front surface of the pegboard support, through selected mounting holes to the rear surface of the pegboard support, the mounting base becomes securely retained on the front surface of the pegboard support. A product support arm is connected to the mounting base and extends forwardly of the mounting base to terminate at a free outer end. Products for display are racked onto the product support arm and are sequentially removed from the product support arm, for example, by customers. In this manner, a variety of products or items can be displayed with high density and in a pleasing and organized manner.
It is often the case that the user of these pegboard display systems desires to present information in conjunction with the product display. Usually, this information comprises the price of the product, but other information, such as inventory control information, descriptive material, product name and the like, is often appropriate for presentation in conjunction with the product display.
The value of displaying information in conjunction with a product has been well recognized in the past. To this end, unitary product support and information display brackets have constructed for use with pegboard systems. Examples of these unitary systems are described in the following list of patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,245,547 FELKAY 12 Apr. 1966 3,645,485 GOLD 29 Feb. 1972 4,246,710 MIXER 27 Jan. 1981 4,286,764 PFEIFER 1 Sep. 1981 4,303,217 GARFINKLE 1 Dec. 1981 4,351,440 THALENFELD 28 Sep. 1982 4,405,051 THALENFELD 20 Sep. 1983 4,474,351 THALENFELD 2 Oct. 1984 4,520,978 TAUB 4 June 1985 4,540,093 MERL ET AL 10 Sep. 1985 4,674,721 THALENFELD 23 June 1987 4,750,698 BARNES 14 June 1988 ______________________________________
While the above referenced patents are suitable to display both products and information correlated to the products, the complete replacement of product support brackets which do not have unitary information displays is costly, and it may be appreciated that an information display that is adapted to retrofit onto existing product only display brackets can be desirable. Indeed, there has, in the past, been some development of information displays which retrofit onto product only display brackets. Examples of retrofit price display elements are shown in the following list of patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,463,510 WINDISH 7 Aug. 1984 4,525,944 FAST 2 July 1985 4,531,313 FAST 30 July 1985 4,583,308 TAUB 22 Apr. 1986 4,646,454 FAST 3 March 1987 4,665,639 FAST 19 May 1987 4,693,024 FAST 15 Sep. 1987 4,698,929 FAST 13 Oct. 1987 4,703,570 FAST 3 Nov. 1987 ______________________________________
In each of the retrofit apparatus described in the patents listed above, a flexible strip has a mounting portion that is mounted between the front surface of the pegboard support and the mounting base of the product support bracket. The flexible strip then extends alongside and in contact with the product support arm to terminate, at a distal end, in a downturned display portion upon which information can be presented. A disadvantage of these apparatus, though, is that the flexible strip can often become dislodged so that it falls off of the product display arm to droop alongside the upright pegboard support. Not only does this dislodgment make the information display substantially useless, but also dislodgment causes the pegboard display system to appear messy and unattractive and can even interfere with the removal of product from the product support brackets.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved retrofit element which can be mounted on a pegboard support surface in conjunction with product-only display brackets and which can provide information correlated to a product that is supported on the bracket. There is a further need for such an information display bracket which does not interfere with the product support bracket and which presents a pleasing, neat display.